Staff gear up for strike at Thomson and Reuters

Staff at news group Thomson Reuters have moved closer to strike action over planned job cuts at the newly merged company.

At a well-attended union meeting, staff from Thomson and Reuters yesterday passed a resolution that could set the wheels in motion for industrial action.

Reporters at the news agencies are angry about management plans to cut 270 jobs, including 73 journalist posts.

A union official said: "The message from the chapel is clear, that they will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and management should be on notice that industrial action will follow swiftly if it does not moderate its behaviour and start to negotiate in an adult fashion."

He said management was trying to "unilaterally impose" a shortened timetable on a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Thomson Reuters has told staff that the group will ultimately be expanding with new ventures such as web television and more comment writing.

But employees say they are angry at impending job cuts, which many believe shows reporters are paying for an expansion into areas not traditionally associated with Reuters or Thomson.

They say more comment and new TV ventures will come at the expense of core news coverage.

The mood across the newsrooms of Thomson and Reuters has deteriorated sharply as staff await more news on job cuts and how the two companies will be integrated.

Staff were further angered when chief executive Tom Glocer chartered a yacht in Monaco to entertain clients over the weekend of the grand prix, just days after job cuts were revealed.